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the Catholic Church of CHRIST, and. a true though unworthy son of the Church by law established in this kingdom. I do think, from the bottom of my heart, that its doctrine is pure, its worship decent, and agreeable to the word of God, and in the most material points of both conformable to the faith and practice of the godly Churches of CHRIST in the primitive and purer times. I am not led to this persuasion so much from the force of custom and education, as upon the clear evidence of truth and reason. And after a serious and impartial examination of the grounds thereof, I am fully persuaded that the scruples men raise against joining in communion with it, are unreasonable and groundless, and that the separation which is made may very justly be charged upon the Dissenters themselves, as the blameworthy authors of it."

THORESBY, THE ANTIQUARIAN.His epitaph in Leeds Church :

died

Sacred to the memory of Ralph Thoresby, F.R.S., and a member of the ancient Corporation of Leeds; born 16th of August, 1658; October, 1727. His remains rest within these walls; and his name, known in the annals of literature as that of an historian and antiquarian (surpassed by few in the age in which he lived) is recorded here as that of an humble Christian. He was educated as a Nonconformist; but, by the wisdom of his maturer years, was guided to seek the Church. Within her fold he attended, with a salutary diligence, the ordinances of our holy faith. Hence he was enabled to dispense the benefits of a respected example, and to receive the blessings of that pure and undefiled religion, which led him to visit the fatherless and widow in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

An humble Christian, who shows in his whole demeanour a profound humility and consciousness of sin; thoughtful, unselfish, unceasing considerateness for all around him; a reverent sympathy for good, from whatever quarter it presents itself; an unpretending zeal in performing all the duties of his state of life; such an one, (little as he dreams of exercising any influence upon others) avails more than a thousand controversial arguments.-ANON.

Poetry.

PEACE.

My soul, there is a country
Far beyond the stars,
Where stands a wingèd sentry,
Skilful in the wars.

There, above noise and danger, Sweet Peace sits, crown'd with smiles,

And one born in a manger

Commands the beauteous files. He is thy gracious Friend,

And, oh my soul awake! Did in pure love descend

To die here for thy sake. If thou canst get but thither,

There grows the flower of peace, The rose that cannot wither,

Thy fortress and thine ease. Leave, then, thy foolish ranges,

For none can thee secure, But One, Who never changes, Thy GoD, thy life, thy cure. HENRY VAUGHAN.

THE CHURCH.

When once thy foot enters the Church, be bare.

GOD is more there than thou: and thou art there

Only by His permission. Then, beware,

And make thyself all reverence and fear.

Kneeling ne'er spoil'd silk stocking quit thy state.

All equal are within the Church's gate.

Resort to sermons, but to prayers most: Praying's the end of preaching. O be drest;

Stay not for the other pin: why thou hast lost

A joy for it worth worlds. Thus hell doth jest

Away thy blessings and extremely flout thee,

Thy clothes being fast, but thy soul loose about thee.

In time of service seal up both thine eyes,

And send them to thine heart; that spying sin,

They may weep out the stains by them did rise:

Those doors being shut, all by the ear comes in.

Who marks in church-time others' symmetry

Makes all their beauty his defor

mity.

Let vain or busy thoughts have there no part:

Bring not thy plough, thy plots, thy pleasures thither.

CHRIST purged His temple; so must thou thine heart:

All worldly thoughts are but thieves met together

To cozen thee. Look to thy actions well;

For Churches either are our heaven or hell.

Judge not the preacher, for he is thy judge:

If thou mislike him, thou conceivest him not.

GOD calleth preaching folly. Do not grudge

To pick out treasures from an earthern pot.

The worst speak something good: if all want sense

GOD takes a text, and preacheth patience.

G. HERBERT.

Miscellaneous.

AUSTRALIAN BULLS. The bulls are permitted to remain with the herds during the whole year, but they voluntarily single off during the winter months, and retire to some dry creek, or "gully," in the forest, where they remain in solitude, and rejoin the herd at the beginning of spring. Their contests, if they meet at this time, are desperate. Bulls of the same herd seem to have forgotten each other during the interval of separation; and severe, and even mortal injuries are often the result of an encounter.

A bull is at all times a lordly animal; but when roaming unconfined, as in Australia, there is a dignity and freedom in all his movements which a state of domestication does not develope; and it is remarkable that, wild as is the nature of cattle in New South Wales, the bulls are seldom vicious or dangerous, even in spring, when in England they are not often to be trusted.

Their senses of sight and hearing are very acute; and it is interesting to watch the sudden change which comes over a bull, when, as he basks on some vast plain, in the midst of his harem, he hears in the distance the deep note which announces the vicinity of a rival. At the first sound he springs up, and looks eagerly round in quest of his foe, while with his loud and angry roar he seems to cau

tion him against a nearer approach. At sight of each other their rage increases, and like the Baresarks of Gothic story, they seem to be preparing for the combat by lashing themselves into a state of frenzy, throwing up the dust into the air with their hoofs, digging up the turf with their horns, and even going down on their knees in their excitement, as if, in imagination, they were already trampling each other under foot. All this time they are gradually approaching to a distance of five or six yards apart, when each draws himself up, and stands for a minute or two, "collecting all his might." There is something positively sublime in this pause which makes the ensuing rush still more terrific. At length they close with an impetus which, but that their foreheads are of the hardest, would be sufficient to split them both, each manoeuvring to get the advantage of the upper ground, and bringing either horn to bear alternately upon his adversary, while the noise of the contest may be heard at a great distance; for the rest of the cattle, well knowing what is going on, run bellowing from all directions towards the scene of action, and surround the combatants, who thus fight, as it were, in a ring. When they are evenly matched, the event is long dubious; but if one of them gains the flank of his antagonist, he is nearly sure to injure or upset him; and a bull is naturally so spiteful, that if he once gets his adversary down, he frequently continues to gore and trample him for a long time after all resistance has ceased, as if his rage were not to be satiated by submission, or even by death.

It is very annoying to the settler, in the course of a ride over his "run," to find his best bull, perhaps recently purchased for a good round sum, at his last gasp. Fortunately, this does not happen very often; the weaker or less skilful animal, finding his efforts unavailing, generally rushes away with a dismal roar, and is pursued, not only by the victor, but by many of the other cattle, who, like true courtiers, have been waiting the issue of the contest, before they declare for either party. The conqueror then takes possession of the disputed herd, while the beaten bull wanders off alone across the plain, in search of other cattle, being at such times most dangerous to meet with, except in the vicinity of some rock or tree, which may serve for a means of escape.-Bush Life in Australia.

THE

Churchman's Companion.

PART XXI., VOL. IV.]

[SEPTEMBER, 1848.

THE DESTINY OF NATIONS.

LITTLE as the religion of Mahomet is in vogue in this part of the world, there is one doctrine of that religion which is very widely prevalent amongst us, and that is a sort of fatalism or belief in destiny. It is a very common feeling amongst many, that the course of the world has a prescribed destiny, or fixed career, which it must needs follow out. People talk of the "march of events," as if things proceeded of their own accord; they forget that as every regiment or army has its commanding officer, who directs or stops its "march," so the events of the world are under the control of One Who guides them according to His will. Many scarcely recognise this superintending power, and speak as if they thought the world went on of itself. As regards our own country, for instance; some people believe it is advancing onward by certain steps to great improvement and perfection; others, perhaps the more numerous, imagine that we have attained our culminating point of wealth and power, and are now descending with more or less rapidity to inevitable ruin and revolution, like some noble vessel which has lost its sails and rudder, and is drifting on a lee shore; or to use the less dignified illustration of Professor Porson,

"Like a pig that down a river doth float,
And at every stroke cuts its own throat,
So is England's commercial prosperity."

Some persons, again, though they suppose revolution a settled thing, yet think that we may possibly get over it without absolute ruin. Nothing they conceive can stop the course of democracy. Democracy is our destiny; yet we may perhaps be so fortunate as to slip gradually and smoothly into it, without any very great calamities. These persons appear to be more credulous than the former. If revolution does come, it will come with a vengeance. Once break down the authority of law in this country, and not "all the queen's horses, nor all the queen's men," will be able to set it up again. The state of society amongst us is such, the ramification of interests so complicated,

VOL. IV.

K

that any disturbance of the governing power can scarcely take place without the most tremendous disruption. Opinions are so equally balanced, the national character so stubborn, the upper and middle classes have so little notion of giving up their property and other advantages without a fight for it, that it is impossible a revolution should be effected in England until after an intense struggle, which shall convulse the whole nation, and subvert society from one end of the kingdom to another. So that they who expect a revolution, must prepare themselves for one of the most terrible description-bloody, entire, and universal.

There are other persons who imagine that the world is marching on at a great rate in intellectual improvement. The advancement in arts and sciences they take to be a proof of a great expansion of the human mind; and they fall into the belief that a generation which can invent railroads and electric telegraphs, must needs have made similar advances in the knowledge of politics, religion, and other moral subjects; forgetting that the two classes of subjects are entirely unconnected; and that a man may be a very good mechanic, yet a very bad politician or divine.

The believers in "the march of intellect" commonly imagine that the advancing wisdom of mankind will be shown in the development of what is commonly called liberal policy. For instance, free trade measures, they think, will certainly be adopted more and more. They assume that restrictions in such matters are obsolete, and free trade is an advance. They do not consider it to admit of a question whether freedom of trade is really an advance and improvement or the reverse. It appears not to occur to them that the removal of the regulations, which our ancestors placed on commerce, may be possibly a retrogression towards barbarism, instead of an advance in civilization. Certainly the nearer nations are to the savage state, the less are they troubled with restrictions on commerce, the more unfettered is their trade. We do not, however, wish to express an opinion on this subject. Our object is simply to give an instance of the bold manner in which the advance of certain principles is set down as a matter not to be questioned; when a previous question might be raised as to whether the movement were not in truth a retrogression rather than an advance.

To dwell for a moment on more serious matters. A great number even of intelligent people speak with apparent approval of the advance of religious liberty; meaning thereby the multiplication of sects and schisms, as if some great improvement were being made in the system of things. They do not stop to inquire whether this very circumstance is not in reality a deterioration

of all that is good and holy-a manifest departure from the spirit of unity inculcated by the Divine Founder of our faith.

Thus in various departments do men fancy that there is a current of events, whether for good or evil, which will certainly flow on. There is a sort of destiny, they think, in human affairs, which must run its course; and whether it be an advance or a decline, is equally inevitable.

Now if this were a mere opinion it would be of small importance: men might hold it or not as they thought proper. But it is one of those opinions that have great practical efficacy. As prophecy will often work its own fulfilment, so a strong opinion or expectation of what is about to happen, contributes not a little to the result expected. It operates not only on the minds but on the conduct of most men. Some it encourages, others it paralyses. When a man is firmly impressed with a conviction that what he hopes and longs for is about to come to pass, he throws himself into the stream of events with an abandonment, and sometimes even fanaticism, which makes him do the work of a hundred, surrounds him with adherents and instruments, into whom he infuses his own devotedness, and so a great step is made towards the accomplishment of the object in view. Thus the republicans of Paris have been working with a marvellous perseverance and faith, until they have accomplished a revolution. Though comparatively few in numbers, their fanaticism and confidence in their cause have overborne the wishes of the large majority of the nation. It is a great stroke of policy in such persons to create an opinion that what they strive for will surely be effected. The presentiment of coming events is apt to paralyse the good, and indispose them to use exertions for the prevention of what they have been persuaded to think inevitable. And so it comes to pass, that what men consider an inevitable destiny, whether it be in the shape of a revolution or social change, or whether it be merely the advance of a certain policy, is in reality worked out by the enthusiasm and confidence of one party, brought to bear upon the cowardice and faintheartedness of the other.

What we propose to do in the present paper, is to show from an induction of historical facts, that there is no destiny or certain progress in human events; but rather that they are subject to a law of oscillation, that is to say, they move backwards and forwards like the pendulum of a clock, or like the tide of the sea; sometimes one set of opinions is in the ascendant and sometimes the opposite and that the course which events take in any particular age or generation, depends, under Providence, on the exertions of the then existing race of men.

Now first in respect to liberalism or the reverse, which is the

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